


Family Plan

by threewalls



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Bad Parenting, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Episode Prompto Spoilers, Gen, Mind Games, Panic Attacks, Zegnautus Keep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 05:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17801996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threewalls/pseuds/threewalls
Summary: Prompto should want to call his dad.





	Family Plan

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks, as always, to Mec, for your encouragement and catching my typos and occasionally words missing entirely!
> 
> Thank you for getting me hooked on FFXV!

The Armiger doesn't just store things - it also charges phones. Who knew? And gives incredible reception, apparently, given Iris's delight over however many miles, an ocean, and three rows of steel-framed bunks away.

"You can call your dad, too," Noct says. 

It takes a beat for Prompto to realise he means him, and a second to push down the panic. Prompto hasn't told his friends about Besithia. Noct is just thinking Prompto should call Vito Argentum, which is-- better. But only because the bar is so low.

"Blood is only one measure of family," Ignis adds.

Well done, Specs. Impressive. That's a line of conversation Prompto wants to join even less than making the call. Staking out the far corner is absolutely the easier choice. 

A chill sort of calm spreads in from Prompto's shoulders, like he can breathe again, once the others can't see his face. You might not need blood to make family, but he's pretty sure you at least need family to make family.

It's easy to remember the last time he tried calling Vito Argentum. That first night in Lestallum, Iris confirmed that some people made it out of the Crown City, but Noct couldn't call anyone he knew, not anyone in the court, or the one person he wanted to rage at most. How could Prompto tell Noct 'thanks for the royal permission, but--' in the face of that?

Prompto remembers it so clearly, how warm it was out on the balcony, compared to the ice box of the dormitory. He remembers talking over the buzz of the dialtone, thinking 'does this sound like what a normal son would say' and 'Vito didn't pick up when I joined the Crownsguard' - probably the last time Prompto even tried to make contact - and 'lucky no one knows my phone lists my parents under their full legal names'.

And that's a really big problem, because Prompto's call history is 'Dad' all the way down. 

It's 'Dad' every few days. 

'Dad'. 

'Dad'. 

'Dad'.

It's so completely strange that Prompto taps back out, as if by some freakish coincidence this isn't actually his phone. But the background is a selfie he and Noct took back at Wiz's, and, really, who else in this room would be calling 'Dad'? 

Not ANY of them, that's who.

"Something wrong with your phone?" 

"No, no, Noct, just my fingers are cold."

Prompto turns his body further into the corner, even though he hates not being able to see the other three. Turning his phone on and off didn't help. Maybe nothing can help.

'Dad'.

'Dad.'

'Dad.'

He doesn't recognise the number. Which is not Vito Argentum's number, which Prompto has filed as Vito, Argentum, so it doesn't show up at the top of his address list.

Who has he been calling?

Never very long, five minutes tops, and Prompto doesn't remember making a single one of them. The dates and times mean nothing. Mostly evenings. Enough to explain why Noct thinks Prompto calls home on the regular, but that is literally the only thing Prompto understands right now. 

Noct is going to ask what's wrong if he doesn't call soon. _Calling would be so much easier._

It sounds just like his own thoughts. 

It feels the same, too, his hands cold and his throat closing up. Prompto has thoughts that get him like a sabertusk. Swiping back to 'Dad' on his contacts page feels like lashing out with the butt of his pistol, desperately hoping it'll let go.

That's probably why he didn't notice, why it was so easy to make him forget.

Except that 'Dad' no longer just makes him think of Vito. It makes him think of Besithia. It makes him think of this place, and how Noct might know Prompto was made, not born, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. That there really is something different, something deeply wrong with him, like Prompto's wondered ever since he found out that other people had parents who wanted to know about their day.

It CAN'T be Besithia. Prompto can't imagine him caring enough to take this many calls, not for this long. There was only one person in that room that cared about their little reunion--

\-- and that explains so much.

It's funny, but Prompto's nearly died, alone, in so many ways over the last few days. And through all of it, what kept him going, the people he pretended he was talking to-- if I just survive, I'll tell you-- all three of those guys are in this same dark room.

Prompto didn't think about calling 'Dad' until he was back with Noct. 

Until he was worth following again.

Prompto could get out his camera to check datestamps but that first call to 'Dad', he would bet good money that was a few days after they met Titan. That feels right.

It was a few days after they left Lestallum. Noct probably asked if Prompto wanted to call his dad that night that guy made them stop at the Cauthess Coernix.

How would his 'dad' know where to find them next?

**Author's Note:**

> So, it bothered me that Ardyn seems to always know where our heroes are, with enough timing to bring army units along with him, sometimes.


End file.
